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Parent of Hollywood.com
Buys Film, Internet Properties

Dow Jones Newswires

Updated June 18, 1999 2:25 p.m. ET

BOCA RATON, Fla. --
Big Entertainment Inc.,
the parent of Hollywood.com, said it agreed to acquire the motion-picture, Internet and data properties of Paul Kagan Associates Inc., a media-industry research and consulting firm, in a deal valued at $10 million.

Big Entertainment said Friday it agreed to pay $9 million in shares and $1 million in warrants to purchase Big Entertainment share.

Big Entertainment said the transaction includes Paul Kagan's film-industry research products and pkbaseline.com, an online database of movie and television information. The deal doesn't include the media-industry online services of Paul Kagan and its affiliates and Kagan Media Appraisals Inc.

The acquisition is subject to a due diligence review, Big Entertainment board approval and completion of other conditions.

Big Entertainment, started by Sci-Fi Channel founders Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie Silvers, owns or controls rights to original characters and concepts and sells merchandise from Hollywood studios, television networks, and popular culture. As Big Entertainment's online sales began to take off late last year, the company decided to sell its mall-based stores.

The company got a big push in December, when
Time Warner Inc.
agreed to launch a version of Big Entertainment's e-commerce site specifically designed for Road Runner, Time Warner's high-speed, or "broadband," Internet-access service. The upgraded site incorporates streaming videos, movies, animation, sound and music.

Now Big Entertainment's main property is Hollywood.com, which it bought earlier this year from
Times Mirror Co.
Times Mirror owns a minority stake in Big Entertainment as a result of the deal.
CBS Corp.
recently agreed to take a 35% stake in Hollywood.com in exchange for $100 million of promotion and content support over a period of seven years.